Next year it’s in Vegas Baby!

That was one of the final announcements of this year’s annual 2012 PAII conference.  The conference was held from January 23^rd – 26^th at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas.  Innkeepers from around the world descended on the Peabody to receive industry training and to see the latest industry products.  Some bad weather hit as the conference began and it rained on and off during most of it but that didn’t kill the overall mood and the sun even managed to make an appearance or two.

Despite a rough start with the weather and all of the challenges inherent in hosting a conference, PAII did a good job of creating value for both vendors and innkeepers.

Keynote Speaker

This year’s opening keynote speaker was Holly Steil, owner of Thank You Very Much, Inc.  Holly is the creator of an innovative concierge program called “The Magic of S.I.L.K.”.  Holly spoke on the things innkeepers can do to create exceptional experiences for their customers.  Her program is the culmination of years of experience and philosophical inquiry and can be heard in 25 different languages.  Holly’s client list reads like a who’s who of great customer service companies including Disney, Nordstrom, and NASCAR.

Workshops & Classes

This year’s PAII conference had a wide range of subjects to interest brand new innkeepers and veterans alike.  In all over 75 vendors and innkeepers presented over 50 workshops on a wide range of subjects including food, marketing, management, and operations.  Of course there were several workshops covering industry hot topics like online marketing and how to utilize social media.

Tuesday morning there were two “Super Sessions” offered to attendees.  Holly Steil went into more detail on “The Magic of Silk” program.  After the session Holly stayed to sign copies of her book.  The other Super Session presenter was P. Allen Smith from Hortus.  He spoke to innkeepers about ways they can best help their B&B increase their branding and booking potential.

On Thursday the 26^th innkeepers had a choice to attend one of the three “Diving Deep Workshops” presented at the conference.  Tim Brady of Brand Pandemic and Forty Putney Road B&B taught a workshop entitled “Get the Hell out of Lodge”.   Donna McSpadden from Pulaski Technical college taught a workshop called “Beyond the Nightly Coctail: Healthy Help is Here”.  The final Diving Deep Workshop was entitled “From Ordinary to Extraordinary” and was presented by The 8 Broads in the Kitchen.

Some of the featured workshops offered during the conference included:

Google Strikes Back
Presented by Bill Mitchell – RezStream
Learn how Google is fighting back in the social media wars and how to expand your mobile marketing opportunities.

Digital Marketing: Social, Web and Mobile
Presented by Brandon Dennis – buuteeq
Learn to utilize your digital marketing effectively.  Brandon shares social media tips specifically for inns and B&Bs.

The Secrets of Packaging Success, Simplified
Presented by Joe Veneto – The B&B Team
Learn how to differentiate your offerings and drive customers to you on a year round basis.

Be an Expert Blogger & Take Charge with WordPress
Presented by Jeff Logan – Avelient, Inc.
Learn why blogging is important and how to integrate it into your marketing efforts.  Which platform is best?  Learn 12 blog posts you absolutely must make.

Hot Topics

Something on the minds of Webervations customers at least is the news that on March 15, 2012, RezOvation is officially discontinuing their support of Webervations 2.0.  Despite investing several years of development on the product, RezOvation is requiring their customers to migrate their data back to the original Webervations program or up to their RezOvation GT/GT Online program.  On the back of that news came the announcement that John Banczak will be stepping down from HomeAway.  Through the course of the conference I spoke with several innkeepers who are currently on the soon-to-be discontinued program and who expressed concerns over having to migrate their data to a new system.

Another topic of conversation was the Reservation Nexus Zimmer.  ResNexus brought a 37-foot RV wrapped in a custom design of the company’s signature blue and gold logo.  The interior has been completely re-designed to function as the company’s tour bus.  It gives ResNexus the ability to personally visit clients around the country.  The bus is nickname “Zimmer” which is German for “room”.   According to Jeff Bryce, “The Zimmer will allow Reservation Nexus to build new relationships and strengthen existing relationships in a way that was impossible before.”  ResNexus will travel with the Zimmer finding ways to serve both clients and non-clients this next year as part of their “Growth Through Service” philosophy.

Little Rock and The Peabody

The Peabody was a great location for the conference.  It’s an elegant hotel that sits right in the middle of downtown Little Rock.  It’s high, arching ceilings and gold accents contrast sharply against its gleaming white marble floors.  One unique thing the Peabody is known for is its ducks. Each day several ducks come down the elevator and through the lobby walking on a red carpet.  They follow their Duck Master – a dedicated fellow who wears a scarlet and gold trimmed jacket and carries a brass head duck cane.  He marches them into the fountain each morning at 11am and then retrieves them the same way each day at 5pm.  During the day they spend their time lazily lounging in the fountain or wandering around the hotel lobby.

During the conference we had a chance to interact with other innkeepers and vendors at the evening Dine-Around.  I got a chance to sample some local Arkansas cuisine at a restaurant called The Flying Fish.  The food was excellent and the atmosphere was fun and energetic.  Customers can also participate in the restaurant’s famous “Liars Wall”.  People bring photos of themselves with their big catch and post it on the wall – then they sit around and lie to their friends about its size.

Wrap Up

The final night we attended the closing banquet at the Clinton Library.  It was an interesting exhibit full of information about Bill Clinton and his presidency.  It included some great re-creations of the Clinton Oval Office and Cabinet Room.  The food was a delightful mix of local cuisine.  I found myself trying to squeeze as many stories as possible out of the innkeepers sitting around my table.  We began discussing celebrity run-ins and the stories they had were so much fun.

Despite a rough start with the weather and all of the challenges inherent in hosting a conference, PAII did a good job of creating value for both vendors and innkeepers.  Many of the innkeepers I spoke with walked away from the conference with a better understanding of their industry.  Like so many others I appreciated the chance to strengthen several old relationships and develop some new ones.  We’re definitely  looking forward to seeing you all next year in Vegas!